5 square rods

Last year we started growing vegetables in our back yard. We gave lots of things a try; potatoes, sweetcorn, onions, carrots, beetroot, turnips, radishes and lots of beans, with mixed success.

Anyone that knows me wouldn't have been surprised that once I got started growing vegetables it had every chance of turning into an obsession, and so it did.

It was with great joy, therefore, that I arrived home one day last May to find that we had managed to get an allotment.

This is the story of Plot 19(a), my very own 5 square rod (that's about 125sqm for the uninitiated) of prime vegetable growing land.

Prime vegetable growing land is probably a bit of an exaggeration, our much neglected plot was overgrown with grass and weeds and in need of some TLC.

However, once the knee-high grass was cut down the task looked slightly less daunting and my dreams started to take shape. I knew I would be fortunate to grow anything in my first year, with summer already in full swing, so I set about clearing the plot ready for my first bumper harvest the following year.

It took me about twenty hours of digging to get the main four beds cleared and dug, but I did even manage to get some seeds sown, and the results never tasted so good.

Its now February 2010, over eight months since we first got our plot, and having waited all winter, I can hardly contain my excitment at being able to get the plot fully utilised.

People always ask me how the allotment is getting on (they quite often regret this once I'm in full flow), so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to share.

I hope you all enjoy hearing about my progress, and maybe you can be inspired to get digging too.